1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed, in general, to a worker support platform with ergonomic features for reducing stress and strain on the worker and for worker comfort, safety and convenience when servicing vehicles and other objects.
2. Background Art
In industry and business today, there are many jobs, such as working over blueprints or sections of materials, or underneath an airplane or automobile, on a building, a machine, or other object that requires the worker to articulate and contort to accomplish the task at hand. For example, from time to time, the worker may need to adjust his upper body position and perhaps bend at the waist forward or backward for a period of time for work convenience; or there may be a need to reduce strain of muscles or for other ergonomic reasons, perhaps caused by a congenital defect, previous injury, weakness or physical handicap. Otherwise, the worker's position can put severe strain on joints or press into muscles, and there often is fatigue and sometimes possibility of a very costly accident or muscle strain. In some cases, it is possible to put some temporary support, such as a cushion, under part of the body, but this then causes a delay in job performance when the support must be taken up and repositioned, and the cushion may fall and scratch or otherwise damage the surface or components of the object being worked on. In many jobs, varying the worker's height or extending her out over the work area is required, and temporary cushions cannot be used at all. Further, in the current worker environment it is more frequently necessary, while working, to access electronic devices and digitized images of technical manuals and part specification data sheets from remote computers. In addition, it is now commonplace to communicate electronically with distanced specialists familiar with the tasks at hand. In known systems, the worker must leave the support stand and access these remote sources via telephone or a local computer at another worksite. Lighting of the work area and the equipment being worked on is also important, because poor lighting causes eye strain and potentially injury to the worker if the worker and work stand are not easily recognized in darkness.
Because worker fatigue is cumulative during the work interval, the addition of ergonomic features lessens the overall effect on the worker. Further, some strain, such as on the elbow in lifting, has an injurious cumulative effect on the skeleton and musculature that can be alleviated by ergonomic support. Some work positions are more comfortable when sitting and moving heavy tools and it may be awkward to carry items up or down a worker support stand. There is an unmet need for a levitation means for conveniently and safely adjusting the configuration of the worker's support stand, change the worker support to a more ergonomic configuration, and to move work items up and down or sideways reducing worker stress. There is also a need, often required by law, to provide safety from sunlight, rain, and sharp edges, as well as warnings of unstable or unsafe conditions such as electrical shock or tipping over due to imbalance when working on unlevel surfaces. There is a need to provide ways for enhancing safety such as leveling the worker stand when working on uneven surfaces, as well as extending appendages or adding ballast to the structure to prevent tip-over. To protect the worker's safety, a place to secure a safety belt is needed. To prepare for the event of an injury, places are needed to conveniently attach immediate first aid items, such as first aid kit with sterilizers, tourniquets, bandages and a pressurized eyewash that can be activated, perhaps with a hand operated plunger or button.
Prior art shows several forms of moveable or stationary worker support stands. There are utilitarian structures with fixed height constructed with sharp angles, sharp edges and hard surfaces that can be injurious to the worker or others in the workplace, or to the equipment being serviced by the worker. In general these units are produced with little regard to creature comfort, well-being.
There are known devices to assist a mechanic when working on an automobile or the like. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,867,273 4,618,209, 4,542,806, 4,530,419, 4,397,374, 4,072,209 and 2,969,123 all disclose a variety of mechanic's support devices. These devices have frame members held together by struts or scaffolding, and provide a resting platform for a worker's upper body. Some of these inventions have a plurality of wheels fixed at the corners of a basically rectangular-shaped undersurface and others include a ladder extending upwards from the base. Most of these patents address jobs where the worker's body position is leaning forward at the waist. U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,273 provides a means for leaning backward while working.
The teachings of the foregoing patent references do little to offer a worker support system that is ergonomically adjustable, or which has ergonomic shapes, or which has conforming ergonomic surfaces that tend to reduce the stress and strain on the worker's skeleton or muscles. Similarly, these teachings are not intended to assist physically challenged persons in setup or use. Of particular note is a lack of features to accommodate appliances, affix tools, provide support structures, or automated features that would make the work easier and safer to accomplish.
Further, all of these patents are technologically challenged, designed for use in prior generation tasks. For example, none of these devices provide means for wireless communication to shop or internet computers. None of the prior art discloses a means to extend or retract the position of the chest support means to facilitate accomplishing the work. All these devices are grossly utilitarian with no mention of ergonomic design such as means for adjusting the forward/backward leaning angle of the main stem. All these devices are grossly utilitarian without mention of user-adjustable ergonomic design to eliminate or reduce strain and pressure on reduce stress on worker body parts.
There is a need for a worker's support stand that provides features for: enhanced worker safety; ergonomic support for body parts; ergonomic adjustable work area illumination devices; points to supply power for devices and tools used by the worker; an adaptive structure for ergonomically support workers of various shapes and sizes; internet or local area network for digital communications, safety alarms; and other ergonomic features that lessen the stress of work while the worker is performing work duties when mounted on the worker's support stand. The need extends to having coatings that reflect light from the worker support stand surfaces in case of use along a highway or other hazardous place where worker safety is a risk due to circumstances. In certain cases the need exists for worker support stand assistive devices that help tired or physically challenged persons perform the work tasks.